Friday, December 25

Convergence of extraordinary natural and human events

Debate accompanied news that there was to be a full eclipse of a special full moon in September; some said the extraordinary celestial event would be an auspicious sign, others thought it would be a portent of doom for the human race. The debate overlooked that another extraordinary event linked to the lunar cycle would occur three months after the first one: the Full Cold Moon reaching perigee on the morning of Christmas Day...

Blood Supermoon Total Eclipse Occurs Just As Yellowstone Geyser Erupts

September 27, 2015

Supermoon - September 27-28

September 30 - Russian military launches Syrian air campaign

In response American military coalition steps up bombing in Syria

December 24 - 25, 2015

Full Moon With Halo Christmas Eve

Total Full Moon in North Hemisphere Christmas Morning

Observations of Hanukkah, Mohammad's Birthday, Advent

Converge During December 2015

December 18, 2015

Asma and Bashar al-Assad make surprise visit to a Christmas music recital rehearsal

at an ancient cathedral, Lady of Damascus, four days after it was shelled

and delegation led by Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Simonos Petras, Mt Athos-Greece

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December 24, 2015 - Militants Preparing to Evacuate Southern DamascusTEHRAN (FNA)- Preparations are underway in neighborhoods South of the Syrian capital, Damascus to expel the ISIL terrorists from the region in the next few hours.

Preparations are underway in the neighborhood of al-Hajar al-Aswad and some parts in the al-Yarmouk camp in the Southern parts of Damascus to evacuate the ISIL terrorists from the region in the next few hours as buses were brought to the region.

The militants began to remove the road barricades and berms and open the roads between the al-Hajar al-Aswad and al-Qadam and Sabinah regions two days ago.

Some militants intend to move to al-Raqqa Northeast of Syria, while a majority have demanded relocation to Mare' city in the Northern countryside of Aleppo.

Yarmouk is a camp for Palestinian refugees in the Southern parts of Damascus. The camp has been the scene of clashes among various terrorist groups and also crossfire between the militants and government troops for the last three years.

Ceasefire treaties to launch evacuation and relocation plans have started across Syria during the last month.

In early December, militants began evacuating Homs city in Central Syria under a deal signed with the government in late November, known as the Al-Wa'ar Agreement.

Large convoys of retreating rebels left Homs City for Idlib in Northwestern Syria.

Al-Wa'ar was the only remaining base of the militants in the city of Homs.

...So if one looks to the heavens for signs and portents to guide human matters, how to interpret the full eclipse of the Blood Supermoon in 2015? Looking back over the three months since, I'd venture that complicated heavenly events portend the ball is in humanity's court for a time. And given the auspicious sign of a special full moon appearing on Christmas, I'd also venture that the heavenly hosts had a little more faith in human efforts than we ourselves.The bad news: It was so foggy in Washington, D.C. on Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning, the special full moon couldn't be seen here. The portent to wring from this? I'd say without extraordinary efforts, some of the darker implications of the full eclipse of the September Blood Supermoon could apply to America's capital. On second thought, I seem to recall the skies in Washington were overcast for the Blood Moon and eclipse; I remember going outside at the appointed time and seeing a clouded sky. And I am positive it was too overcast to see at least the height of the extraordinarily beautiful Geminid meteor showers that appeared this Christmas season. So what is the meta-message for political Washington, D.C. if recent heavenly events are a guide? Clouded. I don't think one needs to read tea leaves to agree. Then again, we get to do the heaven-gazing all over again with Christmas according to the Julian calendar. From Newsweek's helpful December 25 report, RUSSIA’S CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS ARE YET TO COME:

Like a few Christian Orthodox countries, Russians celebrate Christmas on the first week of January with celebrations taking on a slightly different look and feel to those of Western Europe.

Used by the Catholic and Protestant churches, the Gregorian calendar loses out to the Julian one, which the Russian Orthodox Church favors and which other Orthodox churches, such as the Greek one, use. And according to the Julian calendar Christmas usually falls on January 7th.

Back to the Gregorian calendar -- don't forget about Epiphany, celebrating the manifestation of the Magi to the gentiles, observed this year on January 6 by the Gregorian calendar. As a matter of fact, by the time all the Christmas celebrations are wrapped up, then it's time to think about getting ready for Lent. Then there's Easter (March 27 this year by the Gregorian calendar) then Passover (April 22 this year by the Gregorian calendar). And just when everyone's done digesting all the signs and portents from the Spring Equinox religious holidays, right around the bend is the Buddha's birthday -- another one of those religious holidays that has to be calculated according lunar cycles. How, in this case?

That's simple. Just calculate the first full moon day of the sixth month of the Buddhist lunar calendar, which would be the fourth month of the Chinese calendar, except in years in which there's an extra full moon, and then Buddha's birthday falls in the seventh month. Well, except where it starts a week earlier. And in Tibet it's usually a month later. Oh, and in Japan, Buddha's Birthday is always April 8.

This isn't talking about the Hindu religious calendar and the Jewish and Muslim ones. Of course all these are only the major religions. Which is to say if you are very energetic you can find a heavenly portent to match your opinion of earthly matters at any time of the year.

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